Warped Reflection
by NineKindsofCrazy
Summary: Companion piece to 'Strange Reflections'. Kirk ends up in a weird universe. How come no one wants to give him a hug?
1. Part One

This story goes along with 'Strange Reflections' in which Kirk is transported into a fluffy alternate universe. I'm so grateful to everyone who reviewed and favorited that story so since some people wanted to know what happened with Fluffy!Kirk while he was in our universe, I decided to write it. It's a bit shorter than it's counterpart, but fun all the same.

The whole thing will be up by Friday. Here is part one of three. Enjoy. :)

* * *

His first clue that something was wrong occurred moments after the transporter had activated, beaming him back up to the Enterprise. A disruption of some sort caused Kirk to become slightly dizzy and caused the beam to slightly waver.

While nothing similar had ever happened to Kirk during a transportation, the _Enterprise_ crew had experienced transporter problems before, and he brushed the brief malfunction off when he finally fully materialized in the transporter room.

The second clue came when Kirk jumped off the transporter pad and informed Spock and Scotty to send the Halkans 'the usual' in an effort to help the negotiations along.

Spock and Scotty glanced at each other in puzzlement before turning back to Kirk. "The usual?" Spock asked.

Kirk sighed. "Yes, 'the usual', Spock. We've been over this before. I know you know what that phrase means."

Spock lifted his eyebrow. Kirk raised his in return. "You mean… you _don't_ know what it means?" Kirk asked in exasperation.

"Negative, Captain."

Kirk looked to Scotty. "Would you like to have the honor of explaining it to Spock this time? Maybe he'll remember it if it's not coming from me."

Scotty just shook his head and frowned at Kirk. "Uh, I'm not exactly sure what ye…"

"What's up with you guys?" Kirk glanced from Scotty to Spock, trying to determine what was wrong with them. Kirk sighed again and repeated, "The usual. The complimentary gift baskets we send to all planet side native officials when things start to get sticky."

Kirk's statement seemed to puzzle Spock and Scotty as much as the blank looks he got in return puzzled Kirk.

Scotty rocked back and forth on his feet nervously. "Gift baskets, sir?"

"Yeah, Scotty. With the teas and the cookies and those cute little stuffed toys that look like the _Enterprise_."

Spock and Scotty shared a look again. Scotty shrugged half-heartedly and said, "Aye… Captain."

Kirk noticed that Spock was staring at him intently with a slight frown on his face. "You okay, Spock?"

Spock, however, didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "Are you quite well, Captain?"

Kirk waved away Spock's question with "Yeah, I'm fine." He tried to ignore the nagging in the back of his head that was telling him something was wrong. Spock was still frowning at him. So, Kirk stepped closer to him and said, "I know what'll help you feel better."

And that was when Kirk got his biggest clue that something was very, seriously wrong. Because as soon as Kirk wrapped his arms around Spock to pull him into a hug, he vaguely heard Scotty's astonished, "What the-", and one nerve pinch later, Kirk knew nothing more.

* * *

Sorry, it's such a short part but the next part is way longer and it will be up tomorrow morning.


	2. Part Two

Alright, now the story really gets going. To everyone who's read and review- thank you so much. I hope you enjoy Part Two.

* * *

When Kirk awoke, he was in sickbay. But not the sickbay he recognized. There were no flowers, and his teddy bear, Georgie, wasn't next to his bed. It was _always_ next to his bed when he woke up in sickbay.

He looked up to see Nurse Chapel walking by. Well, he _thought_ it was Nurse Chapel. She had her hair pinned up and there wasn't even a hint of a smile on her face. Kirk couldn't remember a time when she _wasn't_ smiling or giggling.

"Hey, Christine." Chapel glanced up at Kirk as she made her way past his bed. Instead of a squeal or a grin like Kirk was expecting, Chapel just snorted and shook her head.

"What'd you do to get yourself in here this time, Captain? Flirt with the wrong Halkan?" Chapel snorted again and continued on her way.

Kirk sat up in his bed speechless and confused. He rubbed his neck where Spock nerve pinched him. What was going on here? Everything here was all wrong.

Kirk got off the bed with a new mission. He had to find McCoy and then figure out how to get things back to normal.

Luckily, it didn't take long to find McCoy. He was sitting at the desk in his office at the end of sickbay when Kirk walked in.

McCoy looked up at him. "Jim," he said, studying Kirk's face, "you're awake. How ya feeling?"

"Confused," Kirk admitted. He sighed and sat down in the chair on the other side of McCoy's desk. "What happened?"

"Well, according to Spock and Scotty, you weren't acting like yourself after you transported up-"

"Not acting like myself? They're the ones that were acting all weird!"

"Not the way they tell it," McCoy said. "Scotty told me you were demanding that gift baskets be sent down to the Halkans and then you tried to hug Spock." McCoy watched closely for Kirk's reaction.

"Well, yeah," Kirk shrugged, not seeing the point. "What's so unusual about that?"

"Oh, boy," McCoy sighed and stood up. "I guess they were right."

Kirk's eyes followed McCoy as he went to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle and two glasses. "What do you mean," he asked slowly, "that they were right? Is there something wrong with me?"

"Not according to the tests I ran while you were out cold," McCoy said, sitting back down. "I thought maybe something down on Halkan messes with your thoughts or your memory. But your physical and mental health tests came back completely normal and there's not one unusual thing I can find," McCoy sighed again, opening the bottle he put in front of him on the desk. "Which means, Spock and Scotty's theory must be right."

"And…," Kirk was almost afraid to ask, "what's their theory?"

McCoy looked him straight in the eye. "Well, I don't think you're gonna like it, but," he leaned forward and lowered his voice, "Spock and Scotty suggested that there could have been a transporter malfunction- not surprising, really. I always said those blasted computerized machines were gonna be the death of us. Scrambling out bodies into a billion tiny pieces and-"

"Bones!" Kirk interrupted. "Get to the point."

The doctor looked at him sheepishly. "Right. Sorry. So far, Spock and Scotty think that the ion storm caused some sort of surge during your beam up. And they're not a hundred percent sure about the next part, but…" McCoy trailed off. Kirk nodded for him to continue. "Well, they think that the surge caused the transporter beam to… move somehow and you materialized somewhere else."

Well, a transporter malfunction during beam up would certainly explain why Kirk got dizzy. But something still didn't add up quite right in Kirk's head. "Wait a minute, though. I didn't materialize somewhere else, did I? I appeared in the transporter room, Spock and Scotty were there."

"Uh, well this is the weird part," McCoy said slowly. "They apparently think that you're… not from here."

"Huh?" asked Kirk, dumbfounded.

"They think you're from a parallel universe," elaborated McCoy. "And that somehow our universe made contact with yours while you and… the you from here were beaming up and you two kind of… switched places."

Kirk sat back in his chair trying to process what McCoy was saying.

"Look," McCoy said. He grabbed the opened bottle and poured out a blue liquid into one of the glasses. "I don't understand it much myself. But when you've been working on the _Enterprise_ this long, you just learn to deal with what the universe throws at you," he looked up at Kirk, "or in this case, transports to you."

Kirk let out a little smile at McCoy's words and took the drink that McCoy handed to him. He sighed and looked around. It was strange to think he could be in a different universe. It seemed so similar to his own that it was hard to fathom. But the little things that he could find different here seemed to make a huge difference.

"Hey, Bones," McCoy looked up from the blue drink he was sipping at. Kirk gestured at the office door. "How come there's no flowers or music or boxes of chocolates in sickbay? All that's in there is beds and equipment? It just seems so… clinical."

"Well, yeah," drawled McCoy. "'Cause it's a _medical_ bay." He took another sip of his drink.

Kirk looked down at the drink in his hands. "Well, where I'm from, we have all of that." Kirk raised the glass to his face and took a sniff of the blue liquid. "And you usually give out hot chocolate, not…" he gestured with his glass.

"Hot chocolate," snorted McCoy. He nodded at Kirk's glass. "That's Romulan Ale. Perfect cure for a rainy day."

Kirk swirled the liquid in his glass around suspiciously. "You know, back on my Enterprise, in sickbay we have a motto: 'A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.'"

McCoy snickered and almost choked on his drink. "That's, uh, some slogan you've got there."

"Yeah," Kirk sighed. He lifted his drink to his mouth. "I doubt this stuff helps the medicine go down." He took a sip and gagged and the burning sensation going down his throat. "Actually, I think this stuff is more likely to help the medicine come up."

McCoy shrugged. "It works for me."

Kirk set his glass down on the desk and looked at McCoy seriously. "I'm not gonna be… stuck here forever, am I?"

McCoy set his glass down too and leaned forward. "Well, Spock and Scotty are on the bridge right now verifying their hypothesis and, if they're right, looking for a way to get you back home and our Captain back here."

Kirk nodded slowly and stood up. "So, can I… go to the bridge, then?"

After a brief moment, McCoy nodded. "Sure," he said standing up. "I'll go with you. We'll see if they've found out anything."

As Kirk and McCoy made their way down the corridors toward the turbolift, Kirk couldn't help but feel longing for his _Enterprise. _An_ Enterprise _where his crew members greeted him enthusiastically in the halls instead of with a curt nod and an uttered, "Captain", as they did here.

They got in the turbolift and rode it up to the bridge. When the doors swished open, Kirk frowned at the sight that met his eyes. It was the bridge, but it was so... wrong.

He saw the familiar faces of his officers; there was Chekov and Sulu at the front consoles. But there were no smiles on their faces. No joking, or humming, or laughter.

And there was the not so familiar face of Uhura, whose normally curly hair and big red bow was now replaced with a straight, slicked back pony tail. She was also straight-faced, not squealing or giggling, just quietly concentrating on her work.

And there was not one single teddy bear in sight.

Feeling McCoy's eyes on him, Kirk quickly shook off his uneasiness and followed McCoy over to the science station where Spock and Scotty were working.

"Doctor, Captain," Spock nodded at each of them as they approached.

"What've you got, Spock?" asked McCoy, peering over Spock's shoulder at his console.

"We have determined that an interdimensionary cross contact has indeed occurred. The computer is calculating a diagnostic solution-"

"Can't you explain it in plain Standard, you pointy-eared goblin? I can't understand a damn thing you're saying," growled McCoy.

"Then perhaps you need your ears checked, Doctor, for I have been explaining in Standard."

"Bones! Spock!" Kirk admonished. The two officers looked at him. "That's no way to talk to each other. You guys should apologize."

McCoy and Spock glanced at each other and then looked back to Kirk with eyebrows raised.

"Fine," grumbled McCoy, "I'm sorry. You green blooded hobgoblin."

"And I apologize, Doctor, for overestimating your intelligence and failing to speak in a manner which you can comprehend."

"What is wrong with you two?" Kirk asked, stunned. "Why are you being so rude to each other?" Kirk shook his head. "Maybe you two should hug and make up."

Now, the whole bridge crew looked stunned.

"Me and Spock- hug?" McCoy spluttered.

"That is a most illogical suggestion," Spock added.

"But- you guys hug all the time!" whined Kirk.

McCoy shook his head slowly. "Not here we don't."

Kirk let out a breath and looked around. "What kind of place is this? No teddy bears, no hot chocolate, no hugs. I ended up in a universe that's so… _warped_."

"I'm not so sure we're the warped ones," McCoy muttered, staring at Kirk.

Kirk glared at McCoy for a moment before turning to Spock. "Please tell me you've figured out a way to get me back home," he said desperately.

"Affirmative," Spock said. Kirk's spirits lifted instantly and he felt like dancing for joy. Although in this universe, he doubted anyone ever danced for joy.

"According to the computer's data," Spock continued, "we should be able to artificially recreate the magnetic surge that occurred the moment you beamed here accurately enough to send you back."

Kirk could barely hold back his happiness.

"However," Spock hesitated before continuing, "it seems as though the contact between the two universes has caused the interdimensional space to start increasing. Soon, the parallel universes will have too much space between them to safely beam you and our Captain back to your respective ships."

"When you say 'soon', how soon do you mean exactly?" Kirk asked worriedly.

"We must beam you back within the next 131 minutes to ensure safe transportation between the universes."

"So, we have just over two hours?"

"Aye, Captain," Scotty answered.

"Can we do it?" Kirk asked, looking from Spock to Scotty.

"Aye, it's very doable," said Scotty. "Just a bit of rewiring and some tinkering with the computers and we should be able to recreate a power fluctuation of the correct magnitude in no time."

Kirk let out a sigh of relief, "Good."

"Commander," Uhura's voice rang across the bridge as she addressed Spock. "Our transmission has detected Klingons on our starboard bow."

Kirk thought the atmosphere on the bridge was serious before Uhura made her announcement, but once the words were out of here mouth everyone on the bridge tensed up.

"Klingons?" asked McCoy. "What in blue blazes are they doing here?"

"Acknowledged, Lieutenant," Spock nodded to Uhura. "Sound the red alert, Mr. Scott."

"Aye"

Suddenly, a siren sounded throughout the Enterprise and red lights flashed on the bridge, leaving Kirk to wonder what exactly was happening.

"Ready the photon torpedoes, Mr. Sulu."

"Aye, sir."

"Photon torpedoes?" Kirk asked in confusion. "What- are we gonna fire at the Klingons?"

"Only if they fire first," Chekov shrugged while he turned around to face Kirk and the others. Kirk stared at him in bewilderment. Chekov- sweet, little Chekov with his teddy bears- nonchalantly willing to fire torpedoes at Klingons? It was inconceivable.

"Fire at us? Why in the world would they fire at us?"

"They're probably after the Halkans' dilithium crystals," Sulu said, concentrating on the controls in front of him. He turned to Spock. "Klingons are targeting the ship, Commander."

Kirk couldn't wrap his mind around what was happening. Klingons after dilithium crystals and targeting the ship? That didn't make any sense.

"There must be some sort of misunderstanding," Kirk said, trying to talk some reason into the bridge crew. They weren't seriously considering engaging in some sort of battle right above a planet they were negotiating with, were they? "Why don't we just contact them and have a nice a conversation?"

Uhura snorted. "Right," she said sarcastically, "a nice conversation with the Klingons."

Sulu's voice rang out over the sound of the red alert. "The Klingons are targeting the _Enterprise_, Commander."

Kirk shook his head, not able to wrap his mind around the situation. He just wanted to make sense of this universe. Even more than that, he just wanted to go home. But most of all… he just wanted a _hug_.

"Prepare to fire."

"Spock." Kirk turned to the one being he could trust to be logical. "This is ridiculous, why don't we just-"

"Klingons are firing."

"Fire torpedoes, Mr. Sulu," Spock ordered.

"Aye."

Suddenly, the bridge shook as one of the Klingon missiles hit the _Enterprise_, sending the crew members falling.

Kirk tumbled into Spock, who lost his balance and fell into the science console, hitting his head and landing on the floor.

"Spock!" Kirk rushed to the Vulcan's side. Spock didn't respond, having lost consciousness.

"Move over," McCoy nudged Kirk aside and pulled out a medical tricorder. After scanning Spock for a few seconds, he said, "Let's get him to sickbay."

Kirk helped McCoy carry Spock into the turbolift. Reflexively, Kirk called out, "Scotty, you have the con!" Flushing slightly, Kirk remembered that he was not technically the captain of this ship.

He was surprised, and slightly pleased, to hear Scotty yell back, "Aye, Captain!" before the turbolift's doors closed.

Once Kirk and McCoy had Spock on a biobed in sickbay, McCoy started scanning the Vulcan again.

"Is he gonna be okay?" asked Kirk worriedly, feeling slightly guilty that he accidentally pushed Spock into the console in the first place.

"He'll be fine," said McCoy, putting his tricorder away. "There's no fractures or contusions. He just has a concussion. But," McCoy walked over to a table and picked up a hypospray, "I have something for that." Kirk watched as McCoy injected the hypospray into Spock's neck.

McCoy glanced up at the readouts over the bed. "He'll probably be out for another twenty minutes at least. Well, look at that," McCoy said pointing over to the red alert light on the wall. It had stopped flashing. "I guess the Klingons has been taken care of."

Kirk said nothing, still disturbed by the thought of Klingons being even the tiniest bit threatening.

"_Bridge to sickbay."_

McCoy walked over to the comm unit on the wall and pressed a button, answering, "McCoy here."

"_Doctor McCoy, we need you on the bridge,"_ Kirk recognized Sulu's voice. "_There were a few minor injuries from the Klingon attack."_

"Acknowledged. McCoy out." The doctor grabbed a medkit lying nearby and nodded in the direction of Spock. "Stay here with him, will you," he directed at Kirk. "If he wakes up before I get back, comm me on the bridge."

Kirk nodded and took a seat next to Spock's bed as McCoy headed out the doors of sickbay.

It was weird, Kirk thought, to see an identical counterpart of his boyfriend lying unconscious. He didn't know what to do or how he should feel. He wanted to hold Spock's hand, but considering the nerve pinch he got earlier, he thought it best to keep any touching to a minimum.

He was worried, but he didn't know how worried he should be. He had to keep reminding himself that it wasn't his Spock, it wasn't his boyfriend. This Spock belonged to a different universe. This Spock didn't have the same memories, the same feelings as his Spock. This Spock didn't hug.

This led Kirk to think about his universe. If Kirk was stuck in this place, then supposedly his counterpart was over on his ship. Kirk wondered if his counterpart was finding the alternate universe as strange as Kirk found this one.

Things were so different here. Kirk found himself wishing that he could somehow give this universe of a taste of what his own universe would like. A universe where things actually made sense.

And suddenly Kirk had an idea. He lifted his gaze from where he was watching Spock slowly breathe and saw Nurse Chapel standing a few beds away.

"Christine!" Kirk called out.

Chapel looked up and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Can you get something for me?"

* * *

I'll update the last chapter later on. I'm off to take an exam now!


	3. Part Three

I want to say thanks for the awesome reviews from StarTrekFanWriter, bookdragon01, MarillaT'Pel, ShamelessSpocker (My exam went awesome, thanks! And yeah, the regular universe does seem pretty cold doesn't it? But maybe Fluffy!Kirk can fix that.), and LyrandanaGreetsTheWind (A virtual friendship scarf? Sounds awesome! How 'bout one in green and silver? Haha). You guys are so nice and I hope you like the final part.

* * *

Almost half an hour later, when Spock finally opened his eyes and took in his surroundings, he was surprised to see Kirk sitting next to his bed. Not only sitting next to his bed, but holding two long sticks and a mass of blue material which bunched up in his lap.

Kirk glanced up from where he was concentrating on his work to see Spock staring quizzically at him. Kirk offered a small grin to which Spock offered a raised eyebrow.

"Hey," said Kirk softly. Then he held up one finger and stood up saying, "Hold on a minute."

With his blue fabric in hand, Kirk walked over to the wall and pressed a button on the comm unit. "Sickbay to bridge."

"_Sulu here,"_ came the reply a moment later.

"Hey, is Bones still up there?"

"_Yeah, I'll get him._"

After a small pause, McCoy's voice came over the comm unit. _"McCoy here."_

"Yeah, Bones, Spock's up now."

"_Good. Well, Scotty headed to the transporter room a while ago. Said he was gonna start rewiring cross circuits or something to try and get you back where you belong."_

The corners of Kirk's mouth curved up in relief.

McCoy's voice continued, _"As long as Spock's feeling up to it, he can go help Scotty out. Scotty said he could probably get it done on his own in the next half hour though."_

"How long do we have before the gap between our universes grows too wide?"

"_Uh…,"_ McCoy paused. _"Just over three quarters of an hour if we estimated right."_

"Alright, thanks. Kirk out." He punched the button and turned to Spock who had quietly been listening to the conversation.

"How ya doing?" he asked the Vulcan as he took his seat again.

"I believe I am now able to function at a normal capacity. The severity of my injuries that resulted from my fall seem to be minute and insignificant in nature." Spock fixed his eyes on the lump of blue material Kirk was holding. "But if I may ask, what are you doing?"

"Uh," Kirk held up his material a little bit, trying to think of how to explain. "Well, Bones told me to stay here while you were out cold, so I've been sitting here thinking and then… well, that got me knitting." He held up the material even more.

Spock only stared a moment, his eyebrows knitted in confusion, before saying, "You may need to elaborate."

"Right." Kirk lowered the material and resumed his knitting while he said, "I figured out why this universe is so warped."

"Indeed?"

"Mmmhmm," Kirk raised his eyes to look at Spock. "Everyone here, they're all so _serious_."

Spock eyebrows were still drawn in confusion. "And that makes us _warped_?"

"Well," Kirk said hastily, "maybe not warped exactly, but…." He sighed. "Don't you guys ever lighten up? Laugh a little?"

"Laughing would be illogical."

"Look," said Kirk, feeling slightly frustrated. "I'm not saying you need to get a kitten or drink hot chocolate or anything, but… maybe… give a hug every once in a while."

For a very long moment, Spock unblinkingly stared at Kirk. At last he said, "You are very strange."

Giving a small shrug with one shoulder, Kirk smiled. "Only on this side of the mirror."

He received a small noise of acknowledgement from Spock. Then the Vulcan closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

Kirk frowned. "You feeling okay?"

Spock opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on Kirk. "I feel sufficient."

But Kirk wasn't quite convinced. He scooted his chair closer to the Vulcan's bed. "You know," he told Spock quietly, "back on my _Enterprise_, we have this song we sing to help us feel better."

Kirk wasn't sure why but the look he got from Spock made him blush slightly. "Sulu made it up," he said hurriedly and cleared his throat. "It just sort of… caught on."

Kirk scooted his chair a little closer. "Um, it goes like this..." He began to sing softly as if he were singing a lullaby to a child. "_Star trekkin' across the universe, on the starship _Enterprise_ under Captain Kirk…"_

Here, one of Spock's eyebrows rose. Kirk just smirked and shrugged. He moved one of his hands to rest over Spock's.

He finished singing, _"Star trekkin' across the universe, only going forward 'cause we can't find reverse."_

Spock glanced down at Kirk's hand covering his own. Then he looked back up and said, "That is a most illogical song. Starships are not equipped to function in reverse."

Kirk let out an exasperated sigh.

"But," Spock continued, "it is… catchy."

Smiling, Kirk slid his hand off the Vulcan's and sat back in his chair as Spock said, "Perhaps I shall inform Mr. Sulu of this song."

Kirk laughed. "You do that, Mr. Spock."

Spock's gaze landed the blue fabric Kirk was still holding. "I am still uncertain as to why you are knitting."

"Oh," Kirk looked down. He pulled the knitting needles out and set them on the bedside table. He held up his creation for Spock to see.

"It's a scarf," Kirk explained. "I knitted it… for you."

He got another confused eyebrow from Spock. "For me?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I've knitted a bunch of them for my crew. I dunno, it always seems to… brighten them up. I thought you could use one."

Kirk grinned. "Besides," he threw the scarf around the back of Spock's neck, wrapping it around. "I always thought blue looked good on you." He smiled slyly. "I bet your captain does too."

To his surprise, Spock's cheeks became tinged with green. "I… would not know," Spock said softly, looking down at the bed.

"Ah, well… maybe you should ask him."

Spock met Kirk's gaze and said, "I will… consider it."

Kirk stood up. Raising an eyebrow at Spock he asked, "You ready to head to the transporter room?"

After a small nod from Spock, the two soon exited sickbay.

Kirk sensed that Spock was contemplating things as they walked through the halls of the ship, so he refrained from talking as to not disturb the Vulcan.

When they entered the transporter room, Scotty looked up from his console and exclaimed, "Ah, you're just in time. I think I've got the computer's set up to give us the power surge we need. We'll be able to send you home any minute now, Captain."

"I can take over from here Mr. Scott," said Spock, walking over to the transporter console. "Your work is greatly appreciated if you wish to return to the bridge now; I will join you shortly, hopefully with our own Captain back."

"Aye, Mr. Spock." Scotty looked to Kirk. "Good luck to ye, sir."

Kirk nodded, "Thanks, Scotty."

Scotty began to walk towards the doors, when he stopped and turned. Looking at Spock, he commented, "That's a lovely scarf, Mr. Spock." And then he walked out the transporter room.

Grinning widely, Kirk turned his gaze on Spock who was studying the transporter console. The Vulcan glanced up, "The transporter is ready now. You may take your place on the transporter pad."

"Just gonna say goodbye to me like that, Spock?" Kirk teased. A pointed eyebrow went up. "How about one for the road?" Kirk asked.

"One… of what?"

Kirk approached Spock and said, "One of these." He slowly wrapped his arms around the Vulcan's stiff body, praying he wouldn't get nerve pinched again.

His prayer must have been answered because a few seconds later Kirk was still conscious. And while Spock didn't hug back, his body did relax a little in Kirk's arms.

Letting go, Kirk stepped back. "See ya on the other side," he told Spock as he stepped onto the transporter pad.

"Ready?" Spock asked. Although the Vulcan's voice was steady, Kirk thought he could sense a hint of nervousness in his question.

Kirk took a deep breath and let out a quiet, "Energize."

As Spock switched the controls on the console, Kirk found himself surrounded by light. He closed his eyes tightly, hoping that when they opened he would be in the right universe.

Kirk cracked one eye open and saw the lights around him slowly fading. Opening the other eye, the faces of his crew came into focus and the transporter beam disappeared.

Spock and Scotty were standing by the transporter console. McCoy and Sulu were there. Chekov had a huge smile on his face. And Uhura was there with her curly hair and her pretty bow.

For a moment, Kirk stared at his crew and they stared back. Everything was still and silent.

Then Kirk stepped off the transporter pad and said, "Group hug?"

Uhura let out a very high-pitched squeal, and Kirk realized he really missed that sound as he was engulfed in the arms of his crew.

And nothing in any universe could wipe the smile off of Kirk's face as he hugged each and every one of them back.

'Cause it was really good to be home.

* * *

Well, there you have it. I think if there's one thing we can learn from the Fluffyverse it's that someone could always use a hug. So go hug someone you care about today! :)


End file.
